Wow! This actually tastes good!

I am happy to report that I am making progress on my weight goal. But you will have to wait until next week when I have my weigh in with my sisters to hear the result. So this week I will share some of the changes I've made in my diet to accomplish my goal (besides eating less calories and not eating junk food). I have never been a health food nut so these little things are big for our family.

·         Fruits & Veggies- Low calorie and nutritious! Out of my family I have always eaten more fruits and veggies than the rest of them, but still not the recommended amount so I have increased my quantities of these things. I have never been a spinach eater, especially cooked spinach- yuck! But I have started adding spinach to my salads and my sandwiches and it is very good. I've also added sprouts. And I have cut out the veggie dip too. (Which I never used to eat until a couple of years ago. Hmmm, maybe that has something to do with the weight gain.)

·         Ground Turkey- I have heard people recommend it, but it never sounded appetizing. I have now tried it in a couple of dishes and it tastes good and is lower fat than ground beef. (I still eat some ground beef, but now we get the extra lean). The only drawback is that ground turkey is pretty pricey. I will need to shop around and see if I can find it for a lower price at other stores.

·         Greek Yogurt- I have been eating more yogurt in general (good source of protein), but lately I have been seeing a lot about Greek yogurt. Last week it was on sale at the store so I decided to give it a try. Greek yogurt is thicker, tangier, has half the sugar and twice the protein of regular yogurt. Because of the thicker texture and less sugar it was hard to adjust to it. I tried it with some Grape Nuts cereal mixed in and then I was able to eat it ok. I did stay quite full after eating it because of all the protein in it. So, it will be an adjustment, but I think I will try to eat it a couple of times a week. I will try a couple of other brands to see if there is one I like best. I also read that plain Greek yogurt can be used as a substitute in baking and as a substitute for sour cream on top of potatoes or for a veggie dip. We may try some of those ideas soon.

·         Whole Grains- The white bread is gone. Now we are eating whole wheat bread, tortillas and pitas. The wheat bread actually adds a lot of flavor to the sandwiches. The younger kids are having a harder time adjusting to it though. A new favorite dish is homemade pizzas with wheat pitas, marinara sauce, low fat mozzarella cheese and veggies. Low calories, healthy and yummy!

·         Special K chocolate granola bars. Not so great. I bought a box in case I had a chocolate craving (which I used to have daily, but now rarely have). If you are really craving chocolate it would probably be better to just eat 1-2 Hershey kisses and actually have the craving satisfied. That said, some of the other Special K cereal bars are pretty good.

  Do you have any favorite healthy foods I should know about? Tell me!